Channel 4: Personal diary v social media research

We were commissioned by Channel 4 to design and implement an online survey about the keeping of personal diaries amongst teenagers.

We surveyed 500 teenagers, using our specialist youth panel, panelbaseteens.com, and compared their responses with a sample of 800 adults, who were teenagers in the 1990s. The online study was undertaken to coincide with the launch of E4’s My Mad Fat Diary, with the results used to glean editorial content and maximise PR around the launch of the programme.

Results showed that teenagers are still using private diaries to record their innermost thoughts despite the advent of social media.

78% of teenage girls say they have worries about posting thoughts and feelings on social media

95% of teenage girls admit they withhold their most personal information from those they connect with on popular networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter

Over half of teenagers say they exaggerate on social media

Media coverage of the research included Channel 4 News, The Telegraph, the Independent Ireland, TalkTalk News and Orange News

“The otherlines.tv team understood the brief and delivered some excellent and easy-to-decipher results with incredibly quick turnaround. The results on teenage diary-writing habits were a valuable part of the overall PR campaign to launch the series, generating coverage in a wide variety of national and online press. We would gladly recommend the team.”

Want to know more about how we can help you? Contact us here and a member of the team will be in touch!